Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Every Night I Bring Her Frankfurter Sandwiches (1920?)

Ah, hot dog! Sandwiches for Thanksgiving! Reminds me of my twenties when I'd gather with a bunch of the other misfits to have what we called "The Lost Boys Thanksgiving". Dinner then consisted of anything you could get at a convenience store supplemented with fast food. Ah for the fortitude of years past.

Monster Mash Monday - The Skeleton Rag (1912)

Ah, another one of my favorites (if only because I share a middle and surname with the lyricist). The Skeleton Rag was written by Percy Wenrich, words by Edward Madden, featured in a 1914 Edison Kinetograph (motion picture) entitled Curing the Cook along with another ghost-themed rag entitled The Haunting Rag. It'd described as a comedy in which a wayward cook is taught the dangers of  drink after being visited by spooks and specters. Like many silent pictures of the early 'teens, the plot sounds more than a little thin. Still, this is the era when, as Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond said, "We didn't need sound, we had faces!"

Edward Madden grew up in New York City and wrote for vaudeville before moving on to the Broadway stage where he helped create scores for Rogers Brothers in Panama, the Mimic World, the Girl and the Wizard, He Came from Milwaukee, La Belle Paree, and Little Boy Blue. His songs made it through to the 1950's where they featured in films such as Turn Back the Clock, Babes in Arms, Tin Pan Alley, Bullets for O'Hara, Birth of the Blues, Ship Ahoy, On Moonlight, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. He died in Hollywood, CA on March 11, 1952.

I thought that I touched on Percy Wenrich in this blog before, but going back over the archives I don't find anything, so here's giving the old boy his due. Wenrich came out of the ragtime hotbed of Joplin, MO, arriving in New York City around 1907 where he worked as a Tin Pan Alley composer. He inked a number of famous rags including The Smiler, Peaches and Cream, Crab Apples, and Put on your Old Gray Bonnet. In 1911 he married vaudeville performer Dolly Connolly and with Madden as his lyricist, wrote Red Rose Rag for his sweetheart. Coincidentally he also died on March 17,1952, just six days after his partner.

I found an American Quartet recording of the Skeleton Rag in the Library of Congress' National Jukebox. So, for your enjoyment, here's a scratchy 78!

Monster Mash Monday - Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein, or Dracula (the Diamonds)

A new thing, Monster Mash Monday when we tune into 1313 on the AM dial for a little spooky entertainment to ease the Monday blues. I'll kick things off with Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein, or Dracula by the Diamonds.

April Full Moon: Hula Dreams

Ah, April in Indiana, a time when the weather definitely isn't exactly fit for grass skirts, though it does make us dream of the South Pacific, warm breezes, and the moonlight glittering on the turquoises water.

Hula Dreams was written by Lee Roberts was a prolific composer with possibly his most famous composition being Smiles. He would eventually become vice-president of QRS Music where he recorded hundreds of piano rolls under his own name and the pen name Stanford Robar. His partner (both on Hula Dreams and on Smiles), the partially blind lyricist J. Will Callahan, also contributed lyrics for the 1913 pop song Gasoline which will be our full moon song for the month of May when all of Indiana turns to thoughts of auto racing.

I wish I could have come up with the music for Hula Dreams, but nobody seems to have added it to the YouTube archives.

Have Love Will Travel - The Sharps (1958)

Usually I only do music for the Yuletide season, but I figured I'd break this one out for all the young lovers out there. Here are the Sharps with Have Love Will Travel from 1958, happy Valentine's Day!

February Full Moon - Sweetheart's Holiday (1929)

Okay, so it's not specifically a full moon song, but Sweetheart's Holiday does make mention of the man in the moon and, being the Valentine's month, I figured it'd make a good piece of music for the occasion.

The lyricist Irving Kahal worked in vaudeville until his death in 1942 and his song You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me would eventually be featured by Frank Sinatra. On looking up Kahal's information I found he'd written two old songs that have become favorites of mine: Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine and When I Take My Sugar to Tea.

J. Russel Robinson has a closer connection to me, though, being born here in Indianapolis, Indiana where he started composing ragtime with his brother. Robinson was known for his blues influences and in 1918 he joined W. C. Handy's publishing company (Pace and Handy) where he provided new arrangements of popular tunes and even played piano accompaniment for recording sessions. Among Robinson's innumerable compositions are a few real gems including Cab Calloway's 1932 Reefer Man, Meet me in No Special Place (and I'll be There at No Particular Time) which was recorded by Nat King Cole, St. Louis Gal recorded by Bessie Smith, Robinson would eventually die in 1963 of cancer in Palmdale, California.

The following is a fairly common version of Sweetheart's Holiday recorded by Lee Morse. Hopefully it puts you in the mood for love in the light of the full moon!

January Full Moon - In the Glory of the Moonlight (1915)

Here's a little recording to celebrate the full moon. In the Glory of the Moonlight was released in 1915, a time when World War I was just getting wound up and it'd become clear that the boys weren't going to march in, kick the kaiser's butt, and march home again. The music-buying public had turned to sappy sentimental strolling songs that depicted a simpler time, a time when a fellow could walk along the canal with his best girl in the moonlight.

Percy Wenrich composed ragtime and pop music at the turn of the last century. He was a native of Joplin, MO and came to New York to work the Tin Pan Alley scene in 1907. Unless you're a ragtime or vintage music enthusiast you probably wouldn't recognize many of Wenrich's compositions. The two exceptions might be Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet (1909) and When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose (1914). My personal connection with Wenrich? In 1911 he wrote his hit Red Rose Rag for his wife, Dolly Connolly, the lyrics to which were penned by Edward Madden. Now, I'm sure Ed and I aren't really related, but you never know.

Wenrich and other stars of the ragtime era had a bit of a comeback in the late 30's with the release of The Songwriter's Parade, a review that toured the eastern seaboard on the Loew's and Keith circuits. Eventually, Percy faded from the scene and he died in 1952 at the early age of sixty five.

In the Glory of the Moonlight is a nice slow ditty for a walk in the park. Of course if you'd probably need a parka tonight, but the sentiment is there. Here's the recording from the Library of Congress. The volume leaves something to be desired and the player's nothing to look at, but you get to hear the song none the less.

A Little Christmas Music - Greensleeves, The Beverly Sisters (1956)

As the group's name implies, the Beverly Sisters consists of three sisters (Joy, Babs, and Teddie) who crafted their singing style in the image of the sister groups which were popular during the 1940's. They grew up in wartime London, being evacuated to the Midlands to avoid the German blitz where they became part of a group of child singers known as the Ovalteenies (yes, promoting Ovaltine). Jock Ware, conducting the Ovalteenies audition, recognized the sisters' potential and signed them for the sum of 15 Guineas.

Through his connections with Cecil Madden, head at BBC Alexandra Palace, Ware secured an appearance for the sisters at the BBC's wartime location in Bedford. During this session the Beverlys met Glenn Miller who, impressed by their performance, offered the choice of any of his musicians to help them make their recording with the proper accompaniment. Unfortunately fate dealt a blow to the Beverly Sisters when Miller died in a plane wreck in 1944.

The Beverly Sisters appeared on BBC TV after the war and eventually appeared on NBC with the remainder of Glenn Miller's band backing their performance. After a successful Palladium appearance with Danny Kaye, the sisters were given their own BBC show. Three Little Girls was eventually renamed Those Beverly Sisters and ran for seven years.

Like most artists of the era, the sisters recorded an album of Christmas tunes. Theirs, entitled Christmastime, featured a hit version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause, but due to my allegiance to Spike Jones' version, I couldn't choose that one to kick the season off. Instead I went with Greensleeves, a song that has a lot of personal meaning for me.

What happened to the Beverleys? Well, I'll let AllMusic's biography do the talking:

"During the 1960s and 1970s the sisters, who had five children in their families by now, only took local London bookings, preferring not to travel far from home. In the 1980s the children -- who had inherited their mothers' talent for harmony -- began singing under the stage name of the Foxes so as not to use the Beverley Sisters name. One night at the London Hippodrome nightclub where the Foxes were playing, Peter Stringfellow requested that the mums, although by then in semi-retirement, appear on stage themselves, and although this was not their sort of venue (with loud amplified music and laser light shows), they finally agreed. The reception they received was beyond their wildest imagination and led to two entirely new careers: performing for the troops overseas as a nostalgia act, and on the gay circuit as a camp act (even releasing a dance version of their song "Sisters"). They are still active in the 21st century, performing for the Queen as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. They also signed up for a ten-date tour with Max Bygraves to re-create the 1952 Royal Variety Performance in which they appeared together for the first time. They took part in the D-Day 60th anniversary memorial in 2004, and in January 2006 all three sisters were awarded MBEs in the New Year's honors list."

Thanksgiving Leftovers - A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich, and You (1925)

With all that turkey in the ice box, it's time for leftovers. So how about A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich, and You by Roger Wolf Kahn and his Orchestra?

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - It's Illegal, it's Immoral, or it Makes You Fat (1962)

The post-Thanksgiving season is upon us and, though most of us are probably more worried about Black Friday instead of our holiday dietary decisions, I thought I'd post a cautionary song. This little 1962 ditty is by The Beverly Sisters who we'll hear more from in the Yuletide season.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Sugar Pudding (1928)

The Memphis Jug Band is here for desert with a little Sugar Pudding.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Peaches and Cream (1906)

Ada Jones started out as a mezzo-soprano before turning to the pop-music of the early 1900's. This, not really food offering of Peaches and Cream came out on a Victor 78 in 1906 and it has the conversational feel of a lot of that era's popular music. Her accompaniment, Len Spencer, recorded various back-and-forth banter songs up into the 1920's. I hope you enjoy the first offering of our Thanksgiving desert course!

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Good Gravy Rag (1913)

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a little giblet gravy to go over those mashed potatoes! The Good Gravy Rag was written in 1913 by Harry Belding and performed here by Bill Mitchell at RagFest 2006.




Belding wasn't one of the big time composers of the ragtime era. He was born in Jefferson Iowa to a mother who taught music and from whom he probably received some musical instruction. Some time around 1889, Harry's father began selling pianos and organs (of the musical sort, not the kind used in giblet gravy), so it's fair to say he came from a musical family. By 1910 Harry had moved to the ragtime hotbed of St. Louis, MO where he managed a vaudeville theater and the exposure led to his taking on a partner and going on tour during 1912 and 1913 under the moniker Alexander and Belding. This was the act that introduced Good Gravy Rag in 1913. The following season Belding teamed up with a singer named Myrtle Sounders and in late 1913, Belding released his only other known piece, Apple Sass Rag. 

Belding virtually disappears after 1914, he either left show business or didn't find a receptive audience. In 1918 he shows up with his wife Minnie and daughter Dorothy in Los Angeles where his draft records show his occupation as farmer employed by his father. Eventually he would remarry, move to San Diego, and become a successful real estate agent and part-time performer. He died in 1931 at the age of 49 after falling down a flight of stairs.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner: Moe Zart's Turkey Trot

Red Ingle and the Natural Seven, ah, mayhem. Red was born in Toledo, Ohio in November of 1906 and from an early age began his musical training. He eventually received a music scholarship at the Toledo American College of Music and was playing professionally by his late teens. In 1931 he joined Ted Weems' Orchestra and Perry Como remarked on Red's natural talent. Red's talent didn't end with music, though, he was a pilot and leather worker (a saddle created by Red was displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition World's Fair in San Francisco in 1939).

After being rated 4F due to his eyesight, Red joined Spike Jones and his City Slickers. Jones featured Red through 1946 and Red played a big part in the band's hit recordings of Chloe, You Always Hurt the Ones You Love, and Glow Worm.

After parting ways with the Spike, Red had a hit with a parody of a Perry Como song Temptation after which he formed his band, The Natural Seven. By the 60's Red had more-or-less retired from music and he died in 1965

So, now that all the formalities have been formalized and the technicalities technified, Mr. Ingle, please cut the holiday bird.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - All That Meat and No Potatoes (1941)

We can't get through the main course without something from Fats. Fats Waller has always been a favorite with me, he ranks up there with Jellyroll Morton when it comes to lyrics that can be taken more than one way. Here's All That Meat and No Potatoes for the buffet.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Waffles (1926)

Okay, you're not likely to have waffles on your Thanksgiving table, but who knows? In Chicago they like chicken and waffles as a late-night snack. I'm not going to put a ban on waffles and turkey! Here is Waffles by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders, sounding a whole lot like Fred Waring's band!

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Pork Chops 'n Gravy (1939)

Ah, the main course is going strong and here's a more modern band. The Ink Spots with their rendition of Pork Chops 'n Gravy.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Hambone Am Sweet (1930's)

I wish I could find a little more information about the Four Southern Singers. The sound reminds me of Oh Brother Where Art Thou, primitive and earthy. Unfortunately, I can't find any biographical information on the Four Southern Singers, all I can say is they were an African American group that seems to have formed sometime during the 1920's or 30's.

Luckily for us, their rendition of Hambone am Sweet is available through the auspices of YouTube. So tuck in your napkin, pull yourself up to the table, and enjoy.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Combination Salad Rag (1916)

Yet another mysterious composer on our first course menu. Julius L. Bafunno composed Combination Salad Fox Trot in 1916 and it's a nice enough tune. I did a little digging and found a copyright for a 1917 tune entitled Desert Moon with words and music by J. S. Bafunno, the rights of which go to Julius L. Bafunno of Chicago. I found mention of Julius playing piano for the annual banquet of the Chicago Coal Merchants Association in the May 26, 1917 issue of The Black Diamond, a coal trade paper (right). He accompanied a chorus singing Romance Land, a tune I couldn't run down in a brief online search.

After that, the trail goes cold. There are no more copyright entries for Bafunno (L or S) and no more mentions in the periodicals that have been scanned to Google's ever-growing library of old documents. Maybe Mr. Bafunno was a one-hit-wonder of his era, though I can't say Combination Salad or Desert Moon exactly seem to be hits. I guess the point is we'll never know.

The cover of the rag is very entry level. Nice, but nothing I'd hang on my wall. The simplicity is kind of sad, though. I can't help but travel back through time to put myself in his shoes. Imagine the first time he walked down the block to the local music shop and saw his name on the cover of a copy of sheet music. Imagine how excited he must have been, how he must have been thinking, "this is it, I've finally made it, soon the world will be beating a path to my door..." Then 1917 came and his next composition. Then...nothing...

Well, I don't want to cast a shadow over the festivities. After all we're here to eat combination salad, not mourn it. Therefore, I offer you an admittedly MIDI version of the tune by Julius L. Bafunno. Raise your glass and offer a toast to all the dreams we've had this year, may the best of them come true and may they live at least as long as this tune has.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Beets and Turnips Foxtrot (1914)

Another great ragtime era cover, the Beets and Turnips Foxtrot, this one is 100 years old this year. So, happy birthday, Beets and Turnips!